Model 1868 Pistol

Model 1868Pistol

NRA Very Good = $? NRA
Excellent = $?

Model 1868 Pistol

The Model 1868 Pistol was fabricated and tested at the request of General
William Sherman. He thought a single shot pistol would be advantageous
for cavalry use. Needless to say, he was not happy with the revolver
concept.

Springfield made two of these .50 caliber pistols with a rifling twist of
42". The pistol was tested using .50-45-450 cartridges. It was not
found to be satisfactory and the bullets had a tendency to tumble in
flight. For a short time, some testing of a .36 caliber pistol or pistol
action was tried, but nothing positive resulted.

There are a number of non-armory produced pistols available that look very
similar to the ones that Springfield produced. Typically they were
constructed from .50 and .45 caliber parts. Some were produced for the
movie industry and some for "other" reasons. The only two Springfield
made
.50 caliber trapdoor pistols reside in museums: the Smithsonian and the
Springfield Armory museum.